Chalk-for-life at Amazon:
https://tinyurl.com/yyap7ufy
Member
Any chalk is better than no chalk at all. My opinion FWIW is that the convenience and reduced mess of liquid makes it a better choice. I'm quite prepared to accept there maybe some small performance difference between liquid/block, but you need to produce the data. Drying time for liquid is very short and gets done between sets. I apply liquid for the last two warm up sets, then the work set and still have sufficient chalk on my hands to go on and do another set of lifts. If you have to carry a kitbag full off assorted micro weights, belt padlocks and other crap, then you are going to need a secure bag for block, or get a kit bag full of powdered chalk..yuck.Originally Posted by zft
This is going to turn into one of those "which oil is best" threads, so, hey, it's the one you use.
Member
Chalk-for-life at Amazon:
https://tinyurl.com/yyap7ufy
Starting Strength Coach
I have learned through experience that not all block chalk is created equal and that it also needs to be stored in a tightly sealed container if you are stretching the block out for months (which most of you are since no one else is using it). The Rogue Chalk has been reliably good and I've been buying the 5 packs for years. It adheres to the skin well and doesn't dry up as quickly as some of the cheap stuff at Dick's. I have corrected many lifters grip leaks simply by recommending switching to the Rogue Chalk and keeping it in a tightly sealed container.
I've only used ZUMWax Beasty Chalk as a liquid chalk and have no complaints about it other than it solidifies in the container after a period of time. I suspect this may be temperature sensitive but I didn't pay close enough attention nor use it long enough (since i opened a gym shortly after using it) to figure that out.
Member
That was not sarcasm. It was incredulity at the stupidity of the question and the lack of awareness required to ask such a question apparently without having done a basic Google search or having read any of the content SS has already produced.
Member
Robert,
I'd like to dig into the nuts an bolts of the container thing.
Do you think the "uncontainered" chalk absorbs moisture out of the humid air or something?
Because every chalk (ok, only maybe 3-4 diff. brands) I've seen comes wrapped only in a paper sleeve or jacket that is hardly air tight.
...and god knows how long that block has been just sitting around in a warehouse.
I keep mine (the one that goes to the gym) in a container just form a mess point of view.
But the new/unused one's I haven't broke into yet just sit on the shelf in their paper sleeve.
Should I be sealing those up?
Member
I have a box of blocks of "gym chalk" (Magnesium carbonate I think) from a miscellaneous brand that I got on Amazon. It has worked fine for me, but I am going through it VERY slowly, since I am the only one using it and I don't use it every single lift.
The cardboard box with paper-wrapped blocks has sat in my garage for about a year, no change evident. I took a block (wrapped in original paper package so as not to cause consternation for TSA) with me on vacation to the Caribbean, in case I found a gym to lift that didn't have chalk. I didn't open or use it, but on packing for the return, I notice that the nice block shape is now distorted and kind of bulging. Don't know if it was moisture from the humid tropical air or from pressure changes in flight, but I would go with the former.
It makes sense that chalk would absorb moisture from the air. In an air-conditioned gym or dry climate this would be negligible. I think I will put mine in a tupperware.
Member
Its magnesium oxide. The air will have no effect. Had a box in my garage for 7 years and its still good. just opened the last pack.
TMPHBITEU
It is MgCO3
Member
Must be very hot in your garage. Like kiln temperature for it to be oxide.
Calcium carbonate is hygroscopic - it attracts water-so, damp air certainly will affect it, which is why we use it to dry out the sweat from our hands during lifting.
Member
Ok granted I did ask the question prematurely without researching the subject before hand but even when I would lift heavier weights in my teens I didn't use chalk and no one ever recommended me to use any so I didn't, with no grip issues like I'm having now which is why I was originally asking about how to increase my grip strength. Maybe it's just a product if aging since I'm in my mid 30's now but I feel like I should be able to hold the weights I'm deadlifting currently with an overhand grip since I haven't even broke 350lbs. But after asking my "stupid question" and seeing the scathing replies I received I'm going to try chalk for my deadlifts and see if my grip improves and possibly for my cleans since those are the only lifts I can see it really making a difference since they are pulled off the floor. I did try hook grip for my latest workset of 330 and it helped but my sweaty hands were still an issue.
Posting Permissions